I need some advice from anyone who's taken Law Preview!! Forum

[albiceleste09]

Ok so here's the situation: I received a scholarship to attend the Law Preview program from a law firm that sponsors students who intend to enroll at a specific law school, call it X law school. I thought I was going to attend X law school this fall so i applied for the scholy. I had to show them my acceptance letter from X law school when I applied. However, I ended up getting off of the wait list at another law school, call it Y law school, and I have decided to attend Y instead of X.
I guess my question for previous Law Preview scholly recipients or participants is this: will I be able to accept the scholy money for Law Preview even though I will not be attending X law school anymore? The instructions say students qualify to apply for the scholly if they 'intend' to enroll, which I did at the time I applied, but doesn't specify whether it matters that I actually end up attending that particular school or not.
Is there a way that the sponsoring law firm will be able to find out that I'm not planning to attend X law school anymore? Do they even care? Thanks for the advice!

[npe]

You should resolve any ambiguity in the meaning of the word "intends" to avoid absurd results. See Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, 143 U.S. 457, 460 (1892). Here, interpreting "intends" to mean anything other than "presently intends" would cause you to actually attend Law Preview, a truly absurd result. Thus, you should read the law firm's offer as applying only to those who presently intend to attend school X and promptly decline the scholarship. In doing so you will not only save valuable time, but also learn a little bit of statutory interpretation.

I see what you did there.

[SHarry3666]

No need to go to the caselaw, you merely need too read the patently unambiguous language on the scholarship application itself:

From: https://secure.lawpreview.com/lpsp/inde ... ions/apply

By including my name below and submitting this application, I certify that the above information is true, correct and complete. I understand that any false or misleading statements and/or information given by me in connection with this application may disqualify me for consideration of this scholarship opportunity. I also understand that scholarship recipients are not obligated to apply for a summer clerkship or permanent position with the sponsoring law firm or organization, nor is the scholarship sponsor obligated to interview or hire any Law Preview scholarship recipient. Submitting an application for this scholarship does not constitute an application for employment.

If I am awarded a Law Preview scholarship and ultimately decide not to matriculate at [law school not selected yet], I will immediately contact the sponsoring law firm to withdraw my application.

From the bold text above it seems like law firms actually do care which school you plan to attend. More importantly, it looks like you agreed to let them know if you don't ultimately matriculate at the sponsored school and withdraw your application for the scholly.

[shoeshine]

If school Y was higher ranked or if Y was your subtle way of saying Yale then you might be better off anyway.

Either way I am pretty sure you have to tell them you are attending a different school.

[windowshopper]

Your best bet is just to tell the law firm that you've decided to attend another school and see what they say.